From: Bill W. Rodgers (billfred@erols.com)
Date: Wed Dec 09 1998 - 12:18:04 EST
Don Wilkins wrote:
>
> At 11:01 PM 12/8/98 +0000, John M. Tait wrote:
> >
> >In reply to my:
> >
> >>...
> >>>Generally I find that sensible judgements can be made on the basis of a
> >>>working knowledge of Greek - in Mark, for example, with the help of C.E.B.
> >>>Cranfield and V. Taylor. Most of the difficulties are concerned with
> >>>transferring the meaning into living idiom in the target language.
> >
> >Don Wildins wrote:
> >
> >>I would {snip} challenge the statement that
> >>one can make sensible judgments with the resources described above. In point
> >>of fact no commentary or word study however good (Cranfield is certainly
> >>acceptable, Taylor's work has questionable value) addresses every problem a
> >>translator encounters, and the problems that are addressed are resolved,
> >>after all, as a matter of commentary and not as a matter of the "right
> >>answer" (with the possible exceptions of solutions where the arguments are
> >>irrefutable). There are, moreover, times when a translator with the best
> >>available library must make translation decisions with a great deal of fear
> >>and trembling, even when s/he is content in having a thorough understanding
> >>of the issues involved. A good translator also has to evaluate problems in
> >>textual criticism, and for that Metzger's textual commentary is
> >>indispensable but hardly adequate in every detail. Indeed, in that area GNT
> >>comes up woefully short (someone I heard or something I read described it as
> >>a "missionary's text," as though missionaries were too ill-prepared or their
> >>target group was not important enough to merit concern with TC), N/A is
> >>barely adequate, and one would wish that Swanson could hurry up and finish
> >>the entire NT Greek Manuscripts series. The situation in the OT is even more
> >>precarious.
> >
> >It would be useful to hear from Don - or from anyone else, particularly if
> >they are involved in translation - what resources they would consider
> >essential for the translation of the NT.
> >
> >John M. Tait.
>
> John has quite properly called me to account, so I'll suggest a few thlings.
> I'm going to assume that he is speaking of translation for publication and
> not just for one's personal use. One first needs to be fluent in the
> standard form of the target language, and nearly so in NT Greek. I have very
> little new to add about the preferred lexicons; obviously Bauer, but I also
> recommend the unabridged Liddell & Scott, together with access to classical
> works (TLG is the best and cheapest source). Louw & Nida's work on semantic
> domains can be helpful, but I see it as a very good thesaurus of sorts, and
> woefully inadequate as a lexicon. For all the bad press it once received,
> TDNT is still quite worthwhile, and it is hard to find a better source for
> historical discussions of vocabulary (at the very least it can direct you to
> original sources). One should have as many critical commentaries on hand as
> possible, i.e. those that concentrate on lexical, grammatical and historical
> issues rather than on devotional material ("warm fuzzies"). Also, one or two
> good reference Greek grammars are probably indispensable. The most recent is
> Dan Wallace's, which is a very worthy option. Smyth's Grammar is still the
> best, I think, albeit a classical grammar, and ATR's Historical Greek
> grammar still has value if one can muddle though the awkward writing style
> (usually you can do fairly well with his comprehensive indices. One slight
> caveat about the grammars is that if you have to spend a lot of time in
> them, you probably aren't ready for translation at this level, and by the
> same token you should be beyond the need of parsing guides.
> A couple of other things are indispensable or all but. You should know a
> fair amount about textual criticism, unless your goal is simply to render
> the standard text of Nestle or GNT without evaluating it. For evaluation
> purposes, though, be sure to have Metzger's textual commentary and a good
> reference work or two on TC. Also, it would be useful to have a working
> knowledge of Hebrew/Aramaic in order to critically evaluate Hebraic idioms
> in the NT. You can of course fall back on the guidance of the better
> commentaries, but hopefully you will be evaluating them as well with a
> critical idea and not depending upon them as ultimate authorities (that is
> why I begged to differ somewhat with John's suggestions).
>
> Don Wilkins
>
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And kudos to Don for coming up which such an excellent list of tools.
The main thing I would add would be something in the nature of a good
concordance [Greek, of course]. As you know a single Greek word may
have many different meanings. When translating you need to know which
meaning the particular context seems to be calling for, and what the
various options are. And finally, you need to be sensitive to the fact
that "all translation is interpretation."
--
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Bill W. Rodgers e-mail: billfred@erols.com
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